The chamber cycle of the Prague Symphony Orchestra will offer a meeting of romance and classics
The Chamber Music cycle of the Prague Symphony will begin with a concert that combines classicism with romanticism. Under the baton of conductor Zdenek Klaudy and his chamber orchestra L’armonia Terrena, two soloists from the FOK orchestra, clarinetists Jan Czech and Matouš Kopáček, will perform.
The evening will be dedicated to two Czech natives, composers František Vincenc Kramář and Václav Jindřich Veit. The program will be complemented by the music of WA Mozart. The concert takes place on October 18, 2022 from 7:30 p.m. in the church of St. Simon and Judas.
“Although we will see the name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the top of the concert program, the leading role tonight will be the Czech-German composer Václav Jindřich Veit. His name is known today practically only by specialized music historians. The name of the pianist, publicist and organizer of musical life in Bohemia in the first half of the 19th century is probably completely unknown to the average listener. And yet, in his time, Veit was discovered as a popular composer, who was respected even by foreign countries – especially Germany. And what is his music like? Beautiful and uplifting. Exuberant melodic ideas. Full of contrasts. It speaks to the listener intimately, overall and urgently, and in its structure it draws wonderful romantic pictures full of colors and all their shades. Basically, this evening we will see a renewed premiere of his Symphony, because the work was forgotten for over two hundred years.” FOK dramaturg Martin Rudovský says about the program.
The program will begin with the Adagio and Fugue in C minor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The composition, which benefits very strongly from the masterwork of Johann Sebastian Bach, has an extremely dark and haunting atmosphere that already foreshadows the most serious and impressive parts of the later Requiem.
It was Mozart who popularized the clarinet concerto genre with his notorious piece. However, Czech musicians such as Antonín Rejcha or František Vincenc Kramář, whose Concerto for two clarinets and orchestra will be performed with FOK solo clarinetists Jan Czech and Matouš Kopáček, also made a major contribution to its development.
František Vincenc Kramář (1759–1831) was born in Kamenice in the Jihlav region. During his lifetime, he became famous mainly in Hungary and in Vienna, where he later even replaced Leopold Koželuh as the imperial chamber bandmaster and court composer, a position he held until his death.
The second part of the evening will belong to Václav Jindřich Veit and his Symphony in E minor. The composition is probably closest in style to the works of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy or even Robert Schumann.
Vaclav Jindrich Veit (1806–1864) was born in the then German-speaking Řepnice in Litoměřice. Until recently, he was practically unknown among the wider music-loving Czech public, which fortunately is now beginning to change, especially thanks to the publication of Veit’s chamber and, most recently, symphonic music. Mainly in Prague, he pursued a career as a lawyer and judge, but also as a composer. He also briefly held the position of music director in Aachen and Augsburg. He wrote a single symphony, most of his works are either for voice or chamber ensembles, including 4 string quartets and 5 string quintets, highly praised by Robert Schumann.
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